Charlie-- I'm not sure whether to go with "congratulations", or "another one bites the dust". Ralph Kiner on marriage-- "_____ has a great wife, if there is such a thing as a great wife."

As far as track maintenance goes, if you go back far enough the evidence is anecdotal. But most of these guys are now at least sophisticated enough to keep records of what they do. I know this because sometimes we ask what they did on a particular day, between two races.

At least one guy out there is jumping up and down right now, saying "If you make the figures based on the histories of the horses, what do you need track maintenance info for." Answer-- you don't, and you can't quantify the work done on a track (or moisture) into a variant. But if you come up against a tough call or an anomaly, it is useful to have as much info as possible.

Incidentally, if you are too busy to do the larger story, I think Bob Barry might be interested, although I haven't mentioned it to him.



TGJB